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Carson Peak

Condition Updates  
Route: From Cataract Gulch
Posted On: 10/10/2023, By: Will_E
Info: No snow on the way to Carson from Cataract Gulch, Tundra Top was dry too. 
Route: Wager Gulch
Posted On: 9/6/2023, By: blazintoes
Info: For itlfish99 ;) Day trip of the bicentennials of West Lost Creek. No beta. Just me, my bike and CalTopo. Biked up Wager Gulch and connected to the CT. Stashed the bike at 12,200 then out and backed Carson Peak a nice grassy peak. Back down the CT to Pole Creek and up Northwest Pole with some fun finishing moves. Totally awesome views of all the Weminuche. Saw Larry and Eddie Macks signatures from 1994! Scree skied down NW Pole and continued to Pole Creek on its west side. A little tedious. Found a weakness in its east face and hiked all the way down to West Lost Ck. Crossed the creek then picked my way through the deadfall on the way up to PK 13,581. There is one drainage that I had to descend to get to the final south slopes. Less than 200 feet lost. Made the fun scrambly summit block in time for sunset. Came down its east slope, willow bashed, crossed the creek and back to my bike. Super fun day! One peak left and Ill be a bicent finisher. Finally. 
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Route: From Tundra Top
Posted On: 6/25/2023, By: HikerGuy
Info: Started from high camp (12,070) in Cataract Gulch, ascended Cataract Peak, Tundra Top, Carson Peak, Bent Peak, 13,587 (13,581) and 13,573 (13,580) in a clockwise loop. 12.95 miles and 5,733 feet roundtrip from camp. Camp was about 3.7 miles from the Cataract Gulch TH. There are four stream crossings in Cataract Gulch, the first two are dry on logs, the third is a wet crossing and currently there is a snow bridge across the fourth. The loop was mostly dry, all snow crossings are well consolidated. Wore trail runners and used spikes twice. Broke out the axe once for some extra security. Not sure if crampons would have helped, but had to traverse lower than planned between 13587 and 13,573. Upper Cataract Gulch has numerous snow patches and wet ground, but nothing terrible. There is a moose cow and calf at the top of Cataract Gulch. 
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Route: From Bent
Posted On: 5/31/2022, By: ScottLovesRMNP
Info: Easy traverse. As you approach the rocky pinnacles near the summit, the use trail that traverses below them on the left (south) side are somewhat hampered by snow/cornice features. I eventually just found a way through a gap in the snow and up to the grassy summit ridge. Really I problem and should be a non-issue soon. Mine was the first name in the summit register for 2022, but it's pretty much good to go for the season. 
Route: From Bent Peak
Posted On: 11/28/2020, By: supranihilest
Info: I dropped south down talus off Bent Peak's summit towards tundra, then stuck to the south edge of the large plateau between Bent and Carson. This was drier than a more direct line, but ultimately there's still a lot of snow. Eventually the plateau becomes a narrow-ish ridge and I stuck to the south side of the ridge. The early part was dry, which turned into garbage mushy snow close to some outcrops on the ridge. I had severe balling underfoot, which made for unstable footing. I had my ice axe at the ready but didn't have to use it. Go south around the blockages in the ridge, and before the summit, which is covered in a massive amount of snow, get back onto the ridge. If you don't you'll have to climb up rock hard, icy snow. It's probably only 20 feet or so but you won't make much of a dent with boots, and lugging crampons that far for that little snow would be ridiculous. Just find a better way to the ridge crest. Walk to the summit from there. To descend I went back to the plateau between Carson and Bent then dropped south towards the Continental Divide Trail, which was sometimes hard to follow due to snow cover. This eventually lead back to the closed 4WD up Bent Peak, which goes back to Carson Pass. I found microspikes and an ice axe useful for the traverse section near Carson's summit. Traction probably is not necessary, but was nice for peace of mind. I did use my axe for a short bit of snow climbing up and down. I didn't use flotation at all between Bent and Carson but it's probably mandatory to get up to Carson Pass in the first place. 
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Route: Carson Pass
Posted On: 9/12/2020, By: denvermikey
Info: If you have a good 4wd you can drive all the way up to the pass. This is a legit 4wd (not AWD) road. Route was straight forward and snow was more of an annoyance than a hindrance. Brought gaiters and micro spikes and didn't use either. 
Route: Carson Pass
Posted On: 8/24/2020, By: JasonKline
Info: Summer conditions 
Route: From Carson Pass
Posted On: 6/21/2020, By: WildWanderer
Info: Summer conditions. No traction needed. 
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Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 8/21/2019, By: dwoodward13
Info: Took CT/CDT to the lowest saddle of the west ridge. Ascent was on partially grassy slope leading to scree. After the saddle had to bypass a few outcroppings on pretty horrendous sloped scree. After that grass ridge to summit. Summit has register with paper, but no pencil/pen. Descended a large grassy slope to the east of the low saddle which was by far more pleasant. Recommend this ascent/descent route vs the direct route to the saddle. 
Route: From Bent
Posted On: 8/13/2019, By: Flyingfish
Info: Dry for the Bent Pk -Cataract Pk ridge run 

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